"I like having a partner," she said, adding that the show works best with a "mom and dad" at the helm. "I don't think it works otherwise. I need someone sitting next to me."

Rumors that Andy Cohen or Anderson Cooper might join have circulated, but Ripa isn't necessarily as devoted to landing a big name as she is to securing someone with whom she's got great chemistry.

"You want somebody working there who's comfortable working there. That's how you figure — it's like a puzzle," Ripa said. "It's very much like an equation, an algorithm. Let's see, if we put somebody here and somebody there, and, 'Oh, this guy really likes to talk about this,' or, 'This guy's really good here,' or, 'This lady is amazing,' or, 'She was great last time, let's give her another shot.'"

And, she's committed to finding a few key personality traits, which may be in light of recent events: "camaraderie and trust."

"It doesn't fall out of the sky," she said. "It takes a lot of work, and it takes a group discussion."

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